Machine for slitting meat



Jan. 1, 1935. .1. P. SPANG MACHINE FOR SLITTING MEAT Filed Jan. 6, 19522 Sheets-Sheet l l'nvenTor. Qoseph Pspang WWW!" Anys:

Patented Jan. 1, r 1935 1 Joseph Spang, Qi ino'y, M assi; I A pplieafionJanilary fir r 17 Claims- (o g v This inventio'n relates :tofmachine's"iorslitting slices of steak and other meatforrthe purposerot;increasing the cooking surfaeesand it relates particuiarly to thattyped-machine which is con- 5.: structedto' cut in-the meat 1 twoseriesof. slits,

whichcross eachotherr v One of the objects ofthe invention is to pro--vide-anovel maehine of this type which :is arrangedjso that the meatwill be fed continuously C- in the sam'e'direction and the twoseries ofcrossingi'slitswill be out inthe meat during'the'for-sewardi'eed'thereof; 1:;

I In the' present embodiment the "meat isxlfed forward with astep bystep movement" and aiter."

oneiorward step a series ofslits'are cut through the meat inon'edirection and after "a subsequent forward step a second series of slitsare out in the meat m a diflerent 1 direction: set that ethe secondseries of siit's wiil cross those oi the first s seriesp c I In order 1to give an understanding? 0!} tthec in-j' vention lhaveillu'strated inthe drawings ase-l leeted' -e mbodimentthereoi which will:nowi-bedescribed after whichthe novel ieaturesiwill be; 252 pointedoutin theappended claims. Fig. 1 isa-top plan'view of a meat slitti'ng mas-zchine embodying thy-"invention; {T

-' Figf'2fis'a' side view thereoiggl Fig-Q3 is' a section on 'the lin'e3 j-3, Fig-1;

305 s Fig; 4 is 'a; setion on'the line 4+4, Fig.1.. 7

' The device herein shown comprises an endla feed apron or oonveyer forfeedin'g the=-s1ices;of.' meatforward with astep by'step movementlandtwo sets or games or slitting knives'arranged: to: act" orr-th'e *meatbetween the- 'forward feeding: movements thereof, one set or gan'go'fknives op-" erating toeiit in the meat a series of slits extendingjcontinueus y across the slice in one direction. and the'oth er setor gang'- of knives operating to" out "in th e meataseeond' seriesotslits whieh crossor extendat'an angle to'the slits o! the first seriesand'also extending continuously across the slice. 1'

+111 the drawings 1 indicates an endless co'nveier by which the meat 22to be slit is fed forward? and this is shown as oomprising two 7sprocket chains '2 which carry" platforms '3 on" which the" meat 22 tobe sliced is supported. Thesesprocket chains are'shown "as; passingaround sprocket; wheels 5 and"6 which-a're 'supporte'din suitablebearings 7 carried hy'the-irame 4:01- the machine;

'' The platforms 3 are hereinshow'n as'sectionat so as 'to' permit themto readily pass" around the sprocket wheelsfiandffis; As} shown" in Figt3sieach 55 platform eompriss a-se'rie's of platform-sections fl' whichare-carried by rods sextending fromsone. sprocketrehainto the'iother.whenthe portions of the sprocket; chains carrying the; platformslarestraight asv s'hown in -Figs. 1;;and. 3 ithe sections: or the piatformwiil een the same piane, ithiis' 5) making a"'proper support for thelmeatbutrthe' sectional character of the platform makes, an; articulatedIfl'atforrn 7 which permits it "to pass a'round the sproeket whel's."-'SuitabIe means presently" to 'bedescribed are 'pr'ovided to give 10the'eonveyer a step by'step or intermittent iorward movement bywhich the"platforms '3' are" advanced from one statio'n -to another; with aperiod" Of rest at e'aeh 'Sta'tionQ t The "slitting I or themeafio'ec'u'rswhile theplatforms are at rest-: 15

'S Iittingf knives ofariyappropriate fcharacter for slitting the'mea't''ikie' us'edf 'lf have herein sn wn mt ry rmve 'but th invention-is notneeessariiy Iinntedto the} "use of rotary knives" fer-this purpose.There are ftwo "gangs orsets 201 of knives illustrated these reindicated enerallyat-ro sna 112 Esemset: of knives consists of aplurality of disk knives which are rigidly" mounted" on a: shaft. *The"knives of the set- -10 V are designated IZ -and those" or: the, set 11aredesignated 13; a'ch sever-k ives is carried by a shaft #iSfand-thknfispreach set are held T proper1y{"'spaeed* fromfeachfiother byspacers These setsor gang'sof -k'niv'es are mounted so that they movediagonally of the directionof- 'l move-merit ofthe meat}? and arerotated as they move; :eacN-setpf *khives having its "movement platformsareat rest:

As'herein'sliown 'the"shaft 45 0f eaeh set of I v r I extendmagonanyortheconveyer aescn guiding banh'evinga'slotl'l therein-in-whichis'received: 1

gi'i'i ding 011s 18 carried by' the ends-of the yoke 14) Theguidingirame for the gang 11 of knives;- isoraqsmmarnapuregificomprising twojguiding: members 19 and '20 whi'chlaresupported above the eonve'yer 2 and are also-arranged: diagonallyithere'of,-' each guiding member 19 'and 20' having a "guiding-slot 2-1in which is received rollst18 carried bytheyoke 14' of "the gang -11 of.knives.

' Means are provided for rotating the knives as they are' 'g-iven' theirmeat-slitting movements. For this purpose the shaft 45 ofv each-gauge!'tween me'rorwarastepspfmemeat wmlemy knives has a gear 44 fast thereonwhich meshes 3 are advanced with a step by step motion from one stationto another, the platforms remaining at rest at the variousstations.During the'periodof rest at one station the gang of knives- 101s given aforward movement causing it to cut a series of slits'in the meaton theplatform at said station in a diagonal direction, and at the end of asubsequent forward movement when the meathas been'brought to-asubsequent station the gang of knives'll is given a movement across.

the meat,"thereby cuttingslitsj in the'meat which cross or are atanangle to the slits cut by the knives of the gang or set 110.- This isillustrated ;in Figs 1 wherein 22,.indicates apiece of meat on'oneplatform.3 and situated atone of the stations,

which for convenienceawill'be referred to as sta-l tion a.- Fig.1 showsthe gang 10of knives moving.

across. the 'meat'22 in: the direction of the arrow and cuttingslits 23therein..;In thus making the slits the gang 10 of knives moves from thedot" ted line position d to thedotted line position e. After the s1its23have; been cut the conveyer. 2

' is given. another step forward by which they meat.

is carried to the next station, which will be indicated asstation b; andwhile the meat is at station I) the knives 11 are moved across the meatdiagonally soasto cut a second series of slits therein indicatedat24,the slits24 crossing the slits23. ln makingtlie slits24 the knives 11move between the dotted-line positions indicated atf and'gt Suitablemeansris provided for giving the conveyer 2 its intermittent or step bystep move-- ment by which the pieces' of meat are advanced from, one.station to the other and for 1 giving the I knives l0 and 11 theiroperativemovement during the time that the meat is at rest at thestationsw-q 1 j The means for operating the conveyer-with the step bystep movement is herein shown as a drive connectionemploying'intermittent gearing. The sprocket wheels are shown as carriedby a shaft 2.5;which has a gear 26 thereon meshin with an intermediategear 27 that is mounted on .the

framea4. flhisgear 27 is driven intermittently' throughan intermittent'gear 28 carried a by a shaft 29. The gear 28 is an interrupted gear, ithaving two sets of gear teeth 30 on its periphery, the sets beingseparated by plain sections 31.

."I'he. periphery; of thegear 28 is divided into quarters and two;opposed. quarter sections are provided with the gear teeth 30 and theother two quarter; sections are plain;as shown at 31. --Th e gear 28 isa driven gear fand; hence at-eachro tation thereof the gear 27 will be,given two steps forward; one .step occurring each time that; a setof'gear teeth 30 come into mesh with the gear 27. Between'each forwardstepor when eitherof'the sections 31 of the gear 7 28 is opposite thegear 27 the latter will remain at rest. This mech-v anism will thus givethe conveyer 1 an intermittent forward motion with a pause betweeneachforward-step.

The means for operating the knives and 11 consists of a reciprocatingknife-actuating member 32 which comprises the two side bars 33 connectedby cross bars 34. These cross bars 34 are slotted as shown at 35 and theyokes 14 for the two sets of knives are provided with pins 36 whichoperate in the slots 35. The knife-actuating member 32 is given areciprocating movement in the direction of the feeding movement of theconveyer l and during such movement the action of the slotted cross bars34 onthe pins 36 will cause the knives 10 and ll to move in the:direction of the length of the knife-guiding members 15, 16 and. 19,20, and engagement of the gears 44 with the racks 43 will cause theknives to rotate as they are thus moved lengthwise of the knife-guidingmembers.

"The knife actuatin'g' member 32 is shown as guidedin its movement byguiding pins 37 which operate'in slots 38 formed in the side bars 33,said pins 37 being suitably mounted on posts 46 forming. part of theframe 4; The reciprocating of the frame 32 in timed relation with thestep by step movement of the conveyer 1 is provided for as'follows. Said.frame 32 has rigid therewith two racks 39 and 40, the rack 40 beingcarried by a depending portion 41 of the member 32. The shaft 29 has.fast thereon, a. segmental gear 42 which isadapted to mesh with theseracks 39 and 40 alternately.- During apart of each rotation of the shaftv29 thesegmental gear 40 will be meshing with the rack bar 39 therebymoving the knife actuator 32 vtotherightas indicated in Fig. 2; andduring anotherportion of said rotation the segmental gear will bemeshing with the rack 40,:thereby moving the actuator 32 to the left. V

Thesegmental gear 42'isso positioned on the shaft .29 relative to the'gear 28that said segmental gear is in mesh with the racks 39 and40- theconveyer l are at rest-and the conveyer will be stepped forward whilethe frame 32 is at rest.

Assuming that the segmental gear 42 is in mesh with the rack 39 as shownin Fig. 2 and that slices of meat 22 are on the platforms at stations aandb; it will be seen that during one portion of the rotation of theshaft 29 the actuator 32 will be moved toward the right thereby movingthe knife gangs 10 and l'lfrom the left hand to the right .hand. dottedline position. During this movement of the knives thegang of knives 10will cut slits 23 diagonallypthrough the slice of meat 22 at station awhile the gang of knives 11 will cutslits 24 diagonally through theslice of meat at station 17.

Assoon as the segmental gear 42 passes out of mesh with the rack-39then'one set of the teeth 30 of the gear 28 will pick up the gear 2'7and said gear 27 will;be given a forward movement thereby to step theconveyer 1 forward, which will carry the meat 22 which was at station ainto a position at'station b and will carry the meat which was atstationb forward'to a position where it is delivered from the conveyer. The

same, movement will also bring a fresh uncut slice.

' nmates ofimeat in-to positioni'at' madam At:

ofr'the forward movement yet-" the conteyer the segmental gear '42meshesr with the' rack w and causes afireturri: movement of: the:actuator 32, I which: will cause: the twcttgang's of knives lfl and IIJto he moved from' 'the left hand dottcd gline positibnwto'the righthand dotted line position during which return movement the knives Iwill1 step forward-Jaeahaveaindicatediv thereby'i'bringseries ofislitscutthereinz; 1

ing anothersfresh; uncut piece ';of meat at" station a and carrying thepiece of meat'iwhichvihasx'a single series of slitseut:thereim-fromtstation. a to station: b5. and 313513118 same timedelivering from station 1) theislice' of meat which hasthads'both heoperation: of theam'achine, ere r t volves isimply; @placing uncutapieces of meat on the. platforms matthe -receivingeend iofwthecon 'veyerbeforesaidiplatforms reiach-stationokand while each piece of meat is atrest at station a it will havetheslits 23' cut therein by the knives andat the same time the slice of meat which has been just advanced fromstation a to station b will have the slits 24 cut therein. Each piece ofmeat is thus acted on by the two gangs of knives successively.Furthermore, in their operation each gang of knives moves diagonallytoward the right for operation on one. slice of meat and then retracesits path and moves diagonally toward the left for operation on the nextsucceeding piece of meat.

I claim:

1. In a machine for slitting meat, the combination with means forfeeding meat-forward, of means moving diagonally across the meat formaking continuous straight slitsv in themeat in a direction at an angleto the direction of feed.

2. In a meat-slitting machine, thecombination with means for feedingmeat forward, of means for making two series of parallel slits in themeat, the slits of each series extending continuously across the meat ina direction at an angle tothe slits of the other series and also at anangle to the direction of feed. i

3. In a meat-slitting machine, the combination with means for feedingmeat forward, of means for making two series of parallel straight slitsin the meat, the slits of each series extending continuously across themeat in a direction at right angles to the slits of the, other seriesand at an acute angle tothe direction of feed.

4. In a meat-slitting machine, the combination with means to feed aslice of meat forward with a step-by-step movement, of means to make aseries of slits in the meat extending from one side to the other of theslice and at an angle to the direction of feed while the meat is at restat one point in its feeding movement and to make a second series ofslits also extending from one side to the other of the slice and at anangle to the direction of feed as well as at an angle to the first-namedslits while the meat is at rest at anothervpoint in its feedingmovement.

5. In a meat-slitting machine,'the combina-' tion with a conveyer for.supporting a slice of meat to be slit, of means for moving said conveyerwith a step-loy-step motion to carry the meat supported thereon fromstation to station,

I whiledt I :ameat-"slitting machiney thecombination with "aiconveyerfiforzisupporting meat-rte :Ebe

feeding movementiof theu'mea i=2: it,

9. In a machine for slitting meat, the com a and heansuto .makea' seriso'rsl-its in tn niat extending: rrem'i'orieitoanother-edge of 'the sliceis'istationary at -on'e' of he stations. T

slit, 10f, means for moving said conveyer withxa thereon-from f stationto station; 11185118470 make a series oifi slits in the meatrwhich'exten'dzcons of; feed while stations 1 7. 1111 1 a m ete ebystepimotion.toc'arry the meat supported U tastiestessential-1fitment;

tionswithsmeainsdordfeedingi meat. forward,g.of

means for making twoseries \of parallel? slits in the meat with theslits of each series :extending continuously, across=;the-meatinnal'ldirectioniaat an; angle to-cthe diriectionrhf -;feed "and-alsoin" a direction :Jat, aniangle .toflthe" slits:of' the-other zf-i {ff- I'20: v slitting'rimeat;the'azoomw I c I bination with:meanszforifeeding.meatifonwardt' 2 8. iln ea machine? for of-mean's=. ormakingiatwoitseries: of parallel straightrslitsiinthe"meat,the:slitsofeachiseriesr extending continuously across theameatiin 1 agdi-arection-zat right angles. tomhemslits' {of the other i series and: alsoat. angle the direction of bination with means for feeding meat forwardwith a step-by-step movement, of 'means to make a series of slits in themeat extending continuously across the meat while the meatis at restbetween twoforward steps at one point in its feeding movement, and tomake a second series of slits in the meatalso extending continuouslyacross the meat at an angle to the slits of the I first series when themeat is at rest between two forward steps at another point in itsfeeding movement.

10. In a meat-slitting machine, the combina J tion with a conveyer forsupporting meat to be slit, of means for moving said conveyer with astep-by-step motion to carry the meat supported thereon from station tostation with a pause at each station, and means to make a series ofslits in the meat extending continuously across the meat while it is atone of the stations andrto make a second series of slits in the meatalso extending continuously acrossthe meat while it is at a subsequentstation. r I

11. In a meat-slitting machine, the combination with a conveyer forsupporting meat to be slit, of means for, moving said'conveyer with astep-by-step motion to carry the meat supported thereon from station tostation with a pause at each station, and means to make a series ofslits in the meat while it is at one of the stations and to make asecond series of slits in the meat at an angle to the slits of the firstseries while the meat is at a subsequent station, the slits of eachseries extending continuously across the meat.

12. In a meat-slitting machine, the combination with a conveyer forsupporting meat to be slit, of means for moving, said conveyer with astep-by-step motion to carry the meat supported:

13. In a meat-slitting machine; the combination with a conveyer forsupporting, meat tobe slit, of: means-for; moving said conveyer withmstep-by step motion to carry the meat supported thereon from station tostation with ya periodwof rest at each station,'a gang ofi'slittingknives supported above the conveyer, and meansttomove the knivesacross;.the meat in'a directionuatan angle to the line .of feedand whilethe meat; is at rest at one, station thereby to cut a seriesof slitsinthemeat extending at an angle to the line of feed, a second gang ofslitting knives, and means to move said knives across the meat at anangle to both the line of feed and the direction of the slits made bythefirst-named gang, whereby a secondseries of 'slits'are cut'in themeatstep-.byj-step motion'to carry the meat supported thereon from stationto .station, means to make a series-ofv slits inthe meat while it is atrest at: one, of the stations; which slits extend continuouslyi-wacro'ssthe meat at an angle to the direction-of :feed, and means to make asecond series-of slits in said meat'which also extend continuouslyacross thetmeat at an angle to the line of 1' feed; and at an angle tothe first-mentioned slitsywhilesaid meat is at rest at another station.:16.*-In arme'at-slitting machine, the combination withr'means :forfeedingmeat forward, of means .tmovingdiagonally across the meat formakingtwo series of parallel slits in the meat, the slits a ofaeachseries extending continuously across the meat in .a direction at anangle to the slits of the other-series and alsoat an angle to thedirection iof feed; 1 U I 17.;iIn"a ameaflslittingImachine, thecombinationuwith'rrneans for feeding meat forward, of meansmovingdiagonally across the meat for making two series of parallelslits themeat with thesslits of 'each series extending continuously across'themeatin a direction at an angle to the directionof feed, and also in adirection at 1 JOSEPH P. SPANG.

